I've had a few personal PM's asking me about my car board support that sits on my tow-bar on my car from people who also drive small cars with only about two feet between the roof racks and concerned about the amount of rocking or sea-sawing that these big boards do when you hit a bump in the road and the stress it puts on the car/roof and racks.

Each time I've been asked about it I've said that I'll take some pictures one day and send them to them but I think it's just easier to just post them here in case there's others also interested.

When I first bought my little zook I was told by the car salesman that the roof racks can be positioned where ever I want them along the roof but they lied.. There is very specific points where the roof racks attach and they are very close together.. I was sooo pissed off about this and a bit worried about carrying my new 14' Glide so it got me thinking (ouch).

I had a tow-bar fitted to my car and was looking at buying on of those bicycle racks and somehow modifying it.. I then started thinking about the stress on it.. With the board tied to the roof racks it just needs to take down force load and there would be no need for side to side or forward/back strength.

It also needed to be adjustable due to different board shapes.. I came up with the idea of using a stainless steel adjustable height IV pole that mounts on the end of the beds at my work (I work in a hospital).. We have heaps of old ones laying around in our bed store in the hospital basement and many don't even fit our current beds.. So I used one of those (after asking first).

My friend Jonathan was able to make a stainless steel mount that fits onto my tow-bar that the IV pole slips over and he was also able to get a spring clip thingie to hold it on.

My next challenge was what to do at the top.. It needs to be firm but not damage the board and not too soft that the board could still move.. I cut the T piece off the top of the IV pole and glued on a wooden ball that I got at Bunnings and I wanted to stretch a tennis ball over it so it wasn't the hard wood.. I couldn't find a tennis ball the right size (my wooden ball was a bit too big) so I found a rubber cricket ball that was a perfect fit.. So I glued it on.

It works perfect.. It also fits in the back of my car when not using it.. The board.. even the 14'er is solid as a rock.. I'm sure that even the 17'er would be ok on there..

Here's some pictures.

DJ

surfanimals said...

Hey, thanks mate, was gonna e-mail you about it.

Clever work. So, how much to make me one and have you a Patent Pending ?

BTW, I saw an advert for SHQ on one of those shots.....oh no, start ducking, the messages will start firing thru anytime now.

I also saw the ad for Victoria... Bloody mexicans

Empty Coke bottle in the back of the car.....

Excellent work DJ.

Crisp and clean.

Adjusting nut could be backed off a tad to center it perfectly.

JonathanC said...

Hey Boylos,

I had a Honda Odyssey a few years ago, there were factory roof rails that I had fitted by the dealer, then you can buy cross rails from Thule or Rhino that fit perfectly and can be placed anywhere along the rail. I think you will find that Honda will be pleased to sell you rails for about $700 !! Annoyed me at the time because so many cars come with rails as standard.

Thule show cross rails for your car - with factory rails, so they must exist. I'd check with the dealer.

http://www.thule.com.au/vehicleguide_detail.php?car_brand_id=11420&car_model_id=274257

Trouble with the DJ set up that we did is that you can't open the tail-gate with the post in place, it is super quick to take on and off though.

Sounds like I should make up half a dozen and sell them to Breezers....

Cheers Johnathan ..... I was going to ring Honda next week and see what the deal was sounds like I should be sitting down at those prices!

It really pisses me off when you pay good money for a good car and they then go and charge top dollar for extras ,they should come standard!.

Hopefully I'll b e back in bussiness on the water next week ..... yeh what you did for DJ could become popular !

Boylos

DJ trouble with that is that you have to drill holes through the roof, don't know how that goes with salt water dripping on the mounts. Certainly worth looking at as an option though.

"SUP 01" - you definately are a SUP tragic, DJ!

DavidJohn said...

Craig.. Don't worry about Honda dealers.. Go to a specialized roof rack shop.

I know Roller Racks will have tracks that they can mount and allow you to position them anywhere along the roof that you want..

I realize now that I could have even done that with mine.

DJ

Yeh that's the problem I'm getting ,they are telling me at the roof rack place that if you drill into the roof you could pierce the air bags .Thats why these clowns at honda have two attactable roof racks that can only go in one spot and there two close togeather!

I'm waiting on a few emails from other roof rack companys so hopefully someone can fix this problem!

Boylos